Matriarchs - Repository of Social Knowledge
An important aspect to the social organization of African elephants is the matriarch. Female African elephants are philopatric and tend to stay with their natal groups throughout their life, creating a kin-based core female social group. From studies that have examined the matriarch’s characteristics, it has been determined that the age of the female elephant is directly correlated with her dominance strength, suggesting that core groups are led by the oldest female. (Wittemyer et al., 2007a). Because females live in matrilineal units with the matriarch as their leader, matriarchs play a major role in the sustainability of their social groups. (Wittemyer et al., 2007a).